Chapter 177: Hatched!

Just as Ba Ke Er was about to embrace Zhang Fan affectionately, Zhang Fan suddenly felt a slight movement in the Dragon Egg in his arms. His eyes widened instantly, and he looked at Ba Ke Er, at a loss, and said:

Ba… Ba Ke Er, what should we do? The Dragon Egg baby seems… seems to have moved! Is it about to hatch? Oh my god! What should we do? Ba Ke Er, what should a newborn female baby eat? I don't even know! Wah wah wah wah…

Ba Ke Er looked at Zhang Fan's current state and also panicked, but the situation was now beyond his control; he could only force himself to stay calm and begin comforting Zhang Fan, while silently praying in his heart that the Dragon Egg would hatch smoothly.

All right, Fan Fan, don't rush~ ah! Come, let's first put the egg baby in his room, then I'll go prepare food for the egg baby, okay?

Saying that, Ba Ke Er already supported and held Zhang Fan, who was holding the Dragon Egg, up from the stool, and then they went together to the side room of the house.

Just as he took the Dragon Egg from his arms and placed it on the bed, Zhang Fan already heard a clear cracking sound; looking closely, the Dragon Egg indeed had a fine crack.

Seeing this, Ba Ke Er didn't dare delay; he left the side room directly, transformed into his beast form, and hurriedly flew toward Di er jia.

As soon as he arrived at Di er jia, Ba Ke Er hadn't even had time to shift back to human form when he burst through the door; upon seeing Dier, he said:

Am! Quickly think of a solution! The Dragon Egg is about to hatch! What should I do? To be honest, I and Fan Fan still don't know what the Dragon Egg baby should eat!

Ba Ke Er's words happened to be heard by Lei Ya; upon hearing that the Dragon Egg was about to hatch, Lei Ya's face lit up with excitement, then turned into a look of disdain toward Ba Ke Er.

What? Your own child is about to hatch, yet you run back to ask Am, Ba Ke Er—are you sure you're already an adult? Otherwise, why would you act like a baby still nursing?

Upon hearing Lei Ya say that about his son, Dier first gave him a sideways glance, then walked over, took Ba Ke Er's hand, and said gently:

Child, Am thinks you don't actually need to do anything else; you just need to return to your partner and stay by your child's side. Rest assured, after the Dragon Egg baby hatches, its food doesn't need special preparation—just boil some of the meat soup you usually eat, and that's enough. All right, hurry back now!

After hearing Dier's instructions, Ba Ke Er nodded, gave Dier a solemn farewell, then flew back home as hurriedly as he had come.

Seeing Ba Ke Er already home, Dier then slowly approached Lei Ya, gave him a big white-eye, then, as if remembering something, looked at him amusedly and said:

Yo! Isn't this Lei Ya from my household coming back? Why don't you come over and hug me as soon as you get home like usual? Are you afraid our son will see you and laugh? Lei Ya treasure~

When Lei Ya heard his beloved call him 'treasure', alarm bells rang in his mind! He widened his eyes and stammered: "Um… dear, I seem to have forgotten to bring something back; I'll go fetch it right away!"

Before his words even finished, Lei Ya shot off as if chased by something, flying away in a panic.

After seeing Lei Ya flee, Dier wasn't angry; instead, he went "pfft" and suddenly laughed. He shook his head, muttering to himself: "I hope everything goes well for Ba Ke Er and Fan Fan over there."

Having said that, Dier turned and went inside.

On the other side, as soon as Ba Ke Er returned home, he immediately shifted into a half-beast form, went straight to the side room, stopped beside Zhang Fan, then lowered his head and whispered softly into Zhang Fan's ear:

Fan Fan, I've already asked Am; Am told us we don't need to make any other preparations—just quietly wait for the Dragon Egg to hatch. And the food we were most worried about doesn't need extra prep either; just boil some meat soup will do.

Zhang Fan looked up at Ba Ke Er, gave a small smile, nodded, and said: "Ba Ke Er, you've worked hard! If that's the case, then let's wait together for the egg baby to hatch."

Just as Zhang Fan's words fell, the Dragon Egg emitted another clear sound, and the crack on its surface widened considerably.

As time passed, the crack on the Dragon Egg grew larger, while Zhang Fan and Ba Ke Er's feelings became increasingly tense, and the atmosphere on site grew more solemn.

Suddenly, a loud cracking sound came from the Dragon Egg; Zhang Fan and Ba Ke Er both involuntarily widened their eyes, afraid of missing anything.

Seeing that, after the cracking sound rang out, the crack on the Dragon Egg's surface already showed that the whole egg had split into two halves. Immediately, the crack grew larger and larger—suddenly! A little white meat hand stretched out from the crack.

Next came a second little meat hand, and then the upper half of the eggshell was already pushed up. Seeing this, Zhang Fan and Ba Ke Er both unconsciously held their breath, eyes fixed unblinkingly on the Dragon Egg.

At that moment, from where Zhang Fan and Ba Ke Er stood, they could faintly see the baby inside the eggshell. Yet they waited left and right, but still couldn't see the baby's face.

Just as the two thought the egg baby had failed to hatch on its own and were about to step forward to help, the upper half of the eggshell suddenly stirred again. Seeing this, Ba Ke Er quickly grabbed Zhang Fan's arm: "Fan Fan, wait a bit longer!"

Zhang Fan saw Ba Ke Er telling him to wait; even though he was anxious inside, he could only stop his steps and keep waiting.

This time, however, the baby inside the eggshell did not disappoint Zhang Fan and Ba Ke Er. As soon as Ba Ke Er's words fell, the upper half of the eggshell was already pushed aside by the baby inside.

Now Zhang Fan and Ba Ke Er could clearly see the baby's face—a small, reddish face from holding its breath too long; because it was a female baby, it appeared as a human boy.

While Zhang Fan and Ba Ke Er were observing the baby, the baby was also looking at them. Seeing that Zhang Fan and Ba Ke Er still hadn't come to hold him after a long while, the baby fussed, threw back his head, and started crying.

Zhang Fan saw the baby crying, panicked himself, and hurried forward, at a loss as he looked at the baby.

Oh dear! Baby! Are you hungry or thirsty? Wait a moment! Dad will have your father prepare food for you right away!

Saying that, Zhang Fan turned around, looking at Ba Ke Er with hopeful eyes.

Ba Ke Er saw the situation, let out a quiet sigh in his heart, stepped forward, picked up the baby from the eggshell, wrapped him in a small blanket from the bed, and tucked him into Zhang Fan's arms.

All right, Fan Fan, you hold him for now; I'll go prepare food.

Having said that, Ba Ke Er quickly left the room.

Zhang Fan stared blankly at the baby fussing nonstop in his arms, stiffly mimicking the gestures he had seen women use on Earth to soothe children.

He also softly cooed: "Be good! Be good! Baby, be good! Don't cry! Delicious food is coming soon! Don't cry, don't cry!"

But what Zhang Fan didn't expect was that, right after he finished saying those words, the baby in his arms stopped fussing, lay quietly against him, and slowly closed his eyes to fall asleep.

Looking at the baby now asleep in his arms, Zhang Fan felt a mix of laughter and tears—indeed, raising a child is the trickiest thing. He really hadn't prepared himself for childcare!

While Zhang Fan held the sleeping baby, preparing to put him on the bed, the baby suddenly woke up and began fussing again. Helplessly looking at the incessantly crying baby, Zhang Fan had no choice but to resign himself to picking up the baby once more and start soothing him.

As he kept soothing, Zhang Fan also felt tired—after all, he himself was a pregnant man carrying six, already someone who needed care, yet now he had to care for the baby.

Gritting his teeth against his own discomfort, Zhang Fan soothed the baby to sleep again; this time, however, he didn't immediately put him back on the bed. Instead, he held the baby, climbed onto the bed and lay down, then placed the baby beside him.

When Ba Ke Er finished cooking the meat soup for the baby and carried it in, what he saw was a large and a small figure both asleep on the bed.

Seeing this scene, Ba Ke Er felt a warm current flow through his heart, and a happy smile slowly appeared on his face.

Just then, Zhang Fan blinked open his eyes dazedly; upon seeing Ba Ke Er holding a bowl, he fully woke, hurriedly sat up from the bed, and gave Ba Ke Er a big grin.

"Ba Ke Er, you're here? The baby's already asleep, so we don't need the meat soup for now. I don't know why, but I just dozed off in a daze, hehe!"

Zhang Fan rubbed his hair, sat up from the bed, and said to Ba Ke Er in front of him:

Ba Ke Er gave Zhang Fan an indulgent smile, walked to his side, raised the bowl in his hand with one hand, and said gently:

"I think it's still needed, but it's not the baby who needs it now—it's you, Fan Fan. You're hungry, right? Come, drink some meat soup first; I'll go prepare some dried meat for you later."

Zhang Fan promptly took the bowl from Ba Ke Er's hand and gulped it down in one go. After finishing, he didn't forget to use the towel Ba Ke Er handed him to wipe his mouth. Then, feeling a bit guilty, he glanced at the sleeping baby.

Ba Ke Er, noticing Zhang Fan's little movement, laughed and said: "All right, stop staring at the baby; if you don't look at him, he'll probably sleep a bit longer, but your glance will likely wake him right away."

Upon hearing that, Zhang Fan immediately turned his head, hastily swung his legs off the bed, put on his shoes, then handed the bowl in his hand to Ba Ke Er, pulled him along out of the side room, and gently closed the door.

Ba Ke Er saw Zhang Fan's cautious movements, suppressed a smile in his heart, and let Zhang Fan push him into the kitchen.

After entering the kitchen, Zhang Fan finally let out a breath, took the bowl from Ba Ke Er's hand, and placed it in the sink.

"Phew~ Ba Ke Er, you'd never guess how much effort I put into getting the baby to sleep! I've been holding him constantly, my arms are about to sore—absolutely must not wake him up."

After taking a deep breath, Zhang Fan, still feeling frightened, said to Ba Ke Er.

Ba Ke Er listened, then smiled, rubbed Zhang Fan's head, thought for a moment, and gently said: "Fan Fan, you've really suffered! With your big belly you still have to come take care of the little baby; why don't... we leave the little baby for Am to take care of!"

Upon hearing this, Zhang Fan immediately widened his eyes and hurriedly said: "Ah! No need, no need! No trouble for Am! Let's just take care of it ourselves!"

Ba Ke Er saw that Zhang Fan had said that, so he didn't insist further, merely nodded and said with a smile: "All right, Fan Fan, you decide; I'll follow your lead!"